Build Your Own House

Steps in Building a House Timeline

Home Building Timeline

Summary: A timeline for a building a new home is made from the steps in building a house.

I made it through most of your book and all of your website and feel confident that I can my own contractor. Thanks!

I was wondering if you had an example of a time line of when to make your phone calls to the next sub that's needed. Example: foundation sub then framer then so on and so forth.

Thanks for you help.

V.C.

Hi V.C.

Congratulations on your confidence.

Building your own home is all about communicating, and in the home building business, that's mostly about phone calls to subcontractors, and suppliers.

When you are in the process of estimating the cost to build your new home you will be talking to your subcontractors not only to get bids, but to discuss a rough time frame of when you need them.

When you are finally ready to break ground, you need to call each and every one of your subcontractors and discuss the time frame again, giving them an update on when the whole process will start.

Using what I call my "vertical time frame list", which can be found on the 1st page of Chapter 8 "Building the House," you and each of your subcontractors can narrow this time frame down.

Once you start construction, the weatherman will try to screw up your scheduling, but hey, that's home building! Once the house is dried in, the weather isn't as much of a factor.

As each subcontractor finishes their job, you can assess the need for each subcontractor that follows and call them.

Ask that they call you too to keep you advised as to delays that they have incurred.

There are 25 steps in building a house. They are all listed on  "Building the House Step by Step"

Here are the 1st 6 steps to build a house:

1. Staking the lot and house: 1-3 hours

2. Clearing and excavation: 1-3 days

3. Ordering utilities, temporary electric service, and a portable toilet: 1 hour

4. Footings (steps 3 and 4 can be reversed). First inspection must be made before pouring: 1 day

5. Foundation and soil treatment, then foundation survey: 1 week

6. Rough-ins for plumbing, if on a slab, and inspection: 2-4 days

I converted the first 6 steps into a horizontal line time frame as seen below.

I believe this is what you were thinking about.

Good luck,

Carl Heldmann